It paves the way for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. It started three hours later than expected. Hamas said the delay was connected to "technical field reasons,

Gaza’s Civil Defense said 19 people were killed in the nearly three-hour delay from when the ceasefire was set to be enforced.

The truce aims to halt Israeli strikes that have killed more than 46,800 Palestinians and laid waste to the enclave, plus see the gradual release of hostages held in captivity for 15 months.